About Zbigniew Mazurak

4 comments

What a joke this article is. Clearly written by a defense industry lobbyist. We have bases all over the world, that’s welfare for Germans,Japanese,Italians at the cost of hundreds of billions a year to hard working tax payers! Why so many troops in Europe more then 70 years after WW2? We are allied with most of the top 10 powerful nations in the world. Think they can police some of the world? End the Big Gov millitary industrial complex! Rand Paul 2016! btw I am an Iraq vet.

Your claims are all blatant lies. Firstly, I have nevet worked for the defense industry, or for any industry as a lobbyist. I’m a history researcher at a public university. Secondly, there is no such thing as a “military industrial complex” in the US. Thirdly, the cost of maintaining US bases abroad is far less than a single hundre of bns of dollars – and on net these bases actually SAVE taxpayers money, because closing them, bringing all the troops home and building bases for them in the US would cost a lot MORE than just keeping them where they are. So on net, you wouldnt save taxpayers a cent. Fourthly, the US has bases only in strategic allied countries, not all over thecworld – and these bases make it far easier and far less costly to react to any agggression or any threat. One warship forward deployed abroad is thecequivalent of 4 warships based in the US.

The most powerful countries in the world after the US are Russia and China. As I have documented here on CDN and on my own site, their militaries rival that if the US and are far stronger than that of any othet country. None of America’s allies can confront these juggernauts by themselves – even collectively. Last but not least, defending crucial allies such as Japan is in America’s own strategic interest.

Don’t get your hopes up. Rand Paul willNOT be elected president in 2016 nor 2020. There is NO Republican who can beat Hillary Clinton. Although I’d like to see Paul run and then get trounced.

At a time when most Republicans are trying to tippy toe around almost every issue, I find it rather refreshing & encouraging to see one of our employees engage in a Constitutional excerise & demanding answers in a way that could not be ignored. Rand Paul took a stand while some of his whine & brie associates publicly displayed their pablum courage with apparent disreguard to the oath to serve. Do I suspect Rand Paul also hoped to enrich his chances in 2016? Yes, most likely & while this won’t garnder my vote, I feel ‘re-enforced’ & relieved to see that not everyone has succumbed to whatever disease is contaminating other elected officials. Perhaps the like of McCain & Graham should take notice.

Props to Paul for attacking the GOP directly and facing the problems his own party can’t deal with. Defense spending AND entitlements need to be cut, not just one or the other. I’m not a huge fan of the Pauls but as a moderate I see this as a huge plus for the right. Our military is too big, we haven’t been in a real or relevant war in fifty years, and we are in massive debt.